Talking about the Don Gellers pardon with NPR

Late last fall my plane touched down at National Airport in Washington, I turned on my phone and there was an interview request from a reporter at NPR interested in the Don Gellers pardon story. I was able to drop by NPR headquarters and record an interview in person with Erin Slomski-Pritz, an NPR Storylab intern who, it turned out, was a Salt Institute for Documentary Studies graduate who had done her project on Dwayne Tomah's work to protect Passamaquoddy culture. She'd read about the Gellers case -- a state-sponsored conspiracy directed by the attorney general's office in the late 1960s to rid Maine of the tribe's all-too effective attorney -- and the pardon hearing.

This morning her piece ran on NPR's Morning Edition. Take a listen or enjoy the transcript.

Gellers received the first posthumous pardon in the state's history last week. His story was exposed in our 31-part Portland Press Herald series "Unsettled" in 2014, which concluded just months before he died.

The Israeli news agency JTA also took up the story today, with photo by my Press Herald colleague Greg Rec (via Getty Images.)

Don Gellers, victim of state sponsored conspiracy, receives full, posthumous pardon in Maine

In a 31-part Portland Press Herald series on the Passamaquoddy tribe's epic struggles with Maine, "Unsettled," I told the story of Donald Gellers, the idealistic young attorney who, in the 1960s, joined forces with Chief George Francis to challenge legal, civil rights, and material abuses of the tribe and its members by state officials, law enforcement, the courts, and local businesspeople. Upon returning home from filing a suit that sought redress for a $150 million trust fund and 10,000 acres of reserved land stolen by Maine -- the fund alone worth $1.1 billion in today's dollars -- he was arrested in a sting and raid that would be comic if its results were not so tragic and charged with "constructive possession" of six marijunaa cigarettes allegedly found in the pocket of a jacket in his upstairs closet.

The sordid case -- prosecuted by the head of the Attorney General's office criminal division, Dick Cohen, and his assistant, John Kelly -- resulted in a 2 to 4 year prison sentence and, most importantly, Gellers' disbarment in Maine, ending his ability to represent his clients. Gellers, with Cohen's tacit approval, fled to Israel, where the Justice Ministry found the case against him so absurd they admitted him to practice law without reservation. When he returned to New York in the 1980s -- now a rabbi -- U.S. federal courts did too.

On Tuesday -- five years after his death from cancer -- Gellers received a full pardon from Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a former Attorney General and career prosecutor who was overcome with emotion while outlining the litany of outrages connected with the state's prosecution. It is the first posthumous pardon known to have been issued in Maine's 200 year history, and also likely the only one to be granted on the grounds that the state had persecuted someone with bad intent. It is also likely to further the attempt to heal the rift between the state and Maine's tribes.

I attended the ceremony at the State House and wrote this dispatch for the Press Herald. I also covered the emotional October 2019 pardon hearing in Augusta, where Gellers' brother and leading tribal figures spoke out in his defense.

For a full accounting of the disturbing story of Gellers, the tribe, a horrific murder, the arrest, and the aftermath, please read the first thirteen chapters (and Chapter 29) of "Unsettled," which can be found here and is also available as a Press Herald e-book from Amazon, iTunes, or wherever you buy your electronic books. I also wrote this obituary after Gellers died.

I spoke with WCSH-6/WLBZ-2's NewsCenter Maine about Gellers' life on Tuesday evening. At available here. I also spoke with Susan Sharon of MainePublic. [Update, 1/15/20: NPR's "Morning Edition" did a story today as well.

The implicit, official censure of the state's behavior in the case is sobering for Maine's legal community, which in the late 1960s was extremely cozy. Many of the figures who participated in the prosecution were colleagues, mentors, or family members of people who are leading figures in the state's legal circles today. Judge William Silsby -- whose decisions during Gellers' 1970 hearing to be granted a new trial when evidence of a state conspiracy was uncovered will raise many eyebrows -- is  the father of Maine Superior Court Judge Herbert Silsby and grandfather of former US Attorney for Maine Paula Silsby. Attorney General James Erwin, where the proverbial buck stops, went on to be a two time Republican gubernatorial nominee, and his son is a prominent attorney who also served as Attorney General. Dick Cohen rose to become Attorney General, and Governor Mills herself worked for him for four years as a young assistant attorney general in the late 1970s; Cohen was appointed US Attorney by Ronald Reagan. John Kelly -- who arrested Gellers in Eastport and prosecuted the case with Cohen -- sits on Governor Mills' pardon board and, so, had to recuse himself.

“These 50 years have been very, very painful years,” Gellers told me a few months before his death, noting that his fugitive status had always hung over his head, waiting to be dropped on him by any opponent.

“It is a ‘Les Miserables’ story, and I am Jean Valjean,” he said, referring to the Victor Hugo novel. “It’s not simply a one-shot outrage, and when something like this is done it carries repercussions for life. These candlesticks are with me forever.”

He said he had never sought a pardon from a governor of Maine, and I asked whether he would ever want one. “Well, yes," he said. "Yes, that would be nice.”

Will Maine issue a pardon to the late tribal attorney Don Gellers?

Last week I covered the extraordinary pardon hearing for the late Don Gellers, the Passmaquoddy tribe's first attorney, who represented them successfully in matters ranging from racial discrimination in barber shops to police abuse and murder in the 1960s. Then he filed a treaty breach case that effectively started the tribe's land claim against Maine, and was arrested as he walked back into his home as part of an elaborate conspiracy involving the attorney general's office, the leadership of the Maine State Police and, at least tacitly, state judges. He fled the country in 1971 to avoid serving years in prison for the "constructive possession" of some joints allegedly found in the pocket of a jacket in his upstairs closet -- a charge that had already been decriminalized in the state.

You can read about the pardon hearing -- where one of the three pardon board members had to recuse himself because of his links to the case -- at the Portland Press Herald, and about the case in detail in the first thirteen chapters of the 29-part Press Herald series, "Unsettled." But I also spoke with Maine Public radio's Irwin Gratz for an interview that aired this morning and, presumably, again this evening during the local blocks within "All Things Considered."

Gellers died in October 2014, shortly after "Unsettled" concluded. Here's his obituary.

[Update, 1/10/20: Governor Janet Mills, a former Attorney General and career prosecutor, granted Gellers a full pardon and admonished the state's handling of the case.]

John Hickenlooper's time Down East in 1970

A few years ago, I was in Denver writing this POLITICO story on how the city built a metro-wide light rail system from scratch, a story that led to my interviewing then-governor (and former Denver mayor) John Hickenlooper.

He gets on the phone, hears I'm from Maine, and first thing he says is "You must know (D.L Geary Brewing founder) David Geary" (both men are micro brewing pioneers); the second is that as a teen he spent a summer volunteering at a free school in Maine. That school, it turned out, was in Robbinston and had been co-founded by Susan Tureen, who had been pushed out of her public school teaching job probably because she was married to Tom Tureen, the Passamaquoddy tribe's new attorney, in the midst of the epic land claims fight.

Now Hickenlooper is running for president, so I put a fuller story together for this week's Maine Sunday Telegram. Enjoy.

For more on the situation in Easternmost Maine in 1970, see the 29-part Press Herald series "Unsettled," especially Chapters 10 to 13.

Maine: Passamaquoddy political struggle persists

Thanks to everyone who has been asking about my take on the U.S. presidential election. I'm intending to write a proper American Nations-driven analysis, but other deadlines and missing data have held me back. Soon, I promise.

Meanwhile, I've written two updates in the Portland Press Herald on another ugly political situation: the power struggles at the Passamaquoddy reservation at Pleasant Point, on the Maine-New Brunswick frontier.

Last week, I had this story on the recall of the sitting Chief, Fred Moore III, by a more than five-to-one margin. Moore says he was ousted because he dared confront an alleged narcotics epidemic within tribal government itself.

Tribal officialdom was mum on why Moore had been removed until yesterday, when I put together this follow-up story. A tribal department director who spearheaded the recall drive against Moore says he was removed for self-enrichment and abuse of power.

All of this follows a more than year-long struggle between Moore and Vice Chief Vera Francis featuring efforts to depose one another, failed recall votes, and accusations of corruption. Before that, there was an unpleasant incident in which an elderly tribal councilor was arrested in connection with her circulation of a recall petition against Moore.

For more background on the tribe, there's this 29-part series.

Passamaquoddy power struggle: an update

With the Thanksgiving break and such, I've been remiss in posting a story I wrote for last week's Maine Sunday Telegram on what appears a chaotic power struggle at one of Maine's tribal reservations.

The Passamaquoddy reservation at Pleasant Point is the site of an ongoing struggle between Chief Fred Moore and Vice Chief Vera Francis, with four of the six tribal councilors currently siding with Francis. As the story reports, the council has suspended Moore, who himself had tried to suspend Francis, and just about everyone seems to be the subject of one recall petition or another. This follows an incident earlier this year where a tribal councilor was arrested and led away in handcuffs while organizing recall petitions against both Moore and Francis, only to have all charges dropped for lack of evidence.

I've no idea what is really going on at Pleasant Point, but it's hard to see it as a positive set of developments.

For background on the situation for the Passamaquoddy, start with "Unsettled," the 29-day series I wrote for the Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram in 2014.

50 years ago today, the Peter Francis murder

As we digest the horrible attacks in France and Lebanon yesterday, I've been thinking a lot about both Paris and Pleasant Point, Maine today. Regarding ISIS, who appear at this writing to be responsible for the attack, I highly recommend this Graeme Wood article from The Atlantic's March 2015 edition.

As for Pleasant Point, readers of "Unsettled", the 29-part series I wrote for the Portland Press Herald on the harrowing recent history of Maine's Passamaquoddy tribe, will recall the horrific murder 1965 murder of Peter Francis by five white hunters. That killing -- for which the perpetrators were allowed to walk away from -- happened fifty years ago today.

My thoughts are with the families of Peter Francis and the late Christy Altvater, who was brutally beaten in the attack, and who celebrated the two  men's lives in a ceremony there today. The Francis family continues to seek justice for the killing, as four of the five Billerica, Massachusetts hunters who were involved in the attack remain alive.. (The fifth, amazingly, has a scholarship named after him at Billerica High School.) Don Gellers, the attorney who blew the whistle on local authorities' mishandling of the case and ultimately paid a terrible price for representing Indians in Maine, died just over a year ago.

Charges dropped against Passamaquoddy elder who tried to recall tribal leadership

In Friday's Portland Press Herald I had an update on the story of the Passamaquoddy elder and tribal councilor who organized recall petitions against a chief and vice chief and was led away in handcuffs.

Last week, I wrote about the story of Mary Creighton, 72, who organized the recall, only to be arrested and recalled herself. The situation was illustrative of the legal vacuum that exists in regards to "internal tribal matters" like elections, so long as the Maine tribe lacks a constitution.

The new development: the county district attorney has dropped charges of aggravated forgery (allegedly involving recall petition signatures). Here's an excerpt:

Creighton’s attorney, Steve Smith of Lipman and Katz, said prosecutors dismissed the case because their witnesses were not cooperating. “We are pleased that the Washington County prosecutors have seen the justice in dropping what is purely a political case against Ms. Creighton,” Smith said. “It’s safe to say there is no enthusiasm for this case.”

Creighton has no way of challenging her recall, which she said wasn't conducted properly, but she says she intends to sue tribal leaders for defamation. Pleasant Point Chief Fred Moore declined to comment.

For more background on the Passamaquoddy, consider reading "Unsettled," the Press Herald series that ran last summer, and which is also available as an ebook.

Passamaquoddy elder challenges leaders, gets led away in handcuffs, recalled from office

Readers of "Unsettled" -- my 31-part series on Maine's Passamaquoddy tribe -- learned about the legal vacuum that exists on Maine's easternmost reservations, where there is no tribal constitution and the conduct of elections and anything else that can be categorized an "internal tribal matter" is beyond the judicial review of the tribe's own courts, better yet state or federal ones.

In this week's Maine Sunday Telegram I write about what can happen in such an atmosphere. Here's an excerpt:

Mary Creighton decided to take on tribal officials she thought were mismanaging affairs. She found herself handcuffed in the back of a tribal police van bound for the Machias jail.

Creighton, 72, was subsequently ousted from the tribe’s governing council in a recall election after a hearing presided over by the very official she herself had been trying to recall. Someone tore down the sign of the gift store she runs from an addition to her home on the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy reservation, located between Eastport and Perry in easternmost Maine. She faces criminal charges of aggravated forgery...

Welcome to the rough and tumble world of Passamaquoddy tribal politics, where politicians operate within an elections system without judicial review, on reservations that lack a constitution, and where almost everyone is connected by blood or business, marriage or divorce. Here a candidate for chief can be bounced from the ballot days before an election, defeated governors can order subordinates to dole out a $40,000 “severance payment,” and a tribal elder with a recall petition can quickly be recalled from office.

If you missed the story Sunday, it may have been because it was initially given The Most Boring Headline in the Universe -- "Recall effort backfires under tribal law on Maine reservation" -- which it is cursed to carry in Facebook and Google's metadata for the rest of time.

[Update, 8/10/15: Charges were dropped against Creighton, as reported in this update.]

Maine: tribal effort to lift printing ban on portions of state constitution fails

For those following the strange story of Maine's redacted constitution: the effort to overturn the 1875 constitutional amendment supressing the printing of a section dealing with duties to the state's Indians has failed.

As I reported in today's Portland Press Herald, a bill that would have put the issue out to voters in a referendum was gutted after lawmakers became fearful of the possible cost of printing an additional ballot.

Rep. Henry Bear of the Maliseet tribe, the bill's sponsor, learned of the redacted passages of the constitution from reading my Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram series "Unsettled." (This piece in particular.) The bill initially had near unanimous support in the judicial committee.

Bear did not respond to requests for comment.

Passamaquoddy tribe to take hit from Gov. LePage poor relief reform

State House-watchers in Maine have been discussing Gov. Paul LePage's plan to reform the way the state compensates towns who provide emergency poor relief, "General Assistance" in local parlance. The governor's plan: that frugal municipalities should be rewarded and "free-spending" cities like Portland should be punished with cuts.

As I report in today's Portland Press Herald, the hardest hit communities under the proposed reform are two remote, rural, and extremely poor Indian reservations in eastern Washington County. On a per capita basis, they'll see far and away the most extreme cuts if the plan goes through.

But, as the story asks, why are those reservations spending such staggering sums on General Assistance: over a quarter million dollars a year in the case of Indian Township, population 718, or more than forty times that of the similarly-sized Penobscot reservation at Indian Island and about thirty times that of Indian Township's immediate neighbor, Princeton, population 832.

Tribal officials refuse to say, but a former chief has an unpleasant answer.

For more on the Passamaquoddy, consider "Unsettled", the 32-part serial that ran in the Press Herald this past summer, also available as an ebook.

Gov. LePage calls EPA decision on Maine tribal waters "outrageous"

In today's Portland Press Herald, I wrote about the latest flashpoint between Maine's Indian tribes and the state's government who are at odds on many fronts over sovereignty issues.

The latest news is that Governor Paul LePage has sent a fiery and defiant letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, calling a recent order to improve water quality in tribal waters "outrageous" and charging it with vindictive behavior toward the state. It's also revealed that the tribes -- already at odds with the state over saltwater fishing, the applicaibility of the federal Violence Against Women Act to their territories, and other issues -- have called on Congress to intervene.

Here's a taste:

“Ultimately this is not about the water quality; this is just a platform to try to undermine the settlement acts,” said Manahan, a partner at Pierce Atwood who has been tangling with the Penobscots for 25 years on behalf of paper companies, dam owners and others. “I don’t think the tribes frankly care if there are job losses to municipalities and industries in Maine, and I don’t think EPA does either.”

Manahan described potentially dire economic consequences in the Penobscot River valley if more stringent standards are adopted to meet the EPA’s order: municipalities shelling out millions to improve wastewater treatment and having to raise property taxes to pay for it, and industrial users having to scale back production or buy new equipment. “For companies, this could result in job layoffs or cost increases that might cause them to make decisions to move elsewhere,” he said.

But the EPA says that’s not true, and that municipalities and most industrial dischargers on the river will almost certainly be unaffected by the tighter standards. “Based on the discharge information we’ve seen for these facilities, the vast majority won’t have to be concerned about most of these standards,” said Ken Moraff, director of ecosystem protection at EPA’s New England office in Boston. “We are not aware of any dischargers that are fundamentally in conflict with the sustenance fishing use.”

For additional background on the history of Maine's tribal-state relations, consider "Unsettled", the 31-part Press Herald series on the Passamaquoddy, which appeared in the paper last summer. (It's also available as an e-book here.)

[Update, 3/22/15: Maine will sue EPA over the issue.]

In victory for tribes, feds step in to overrule Maine water quality rules

In today's Portland Press Herald I reported on a potentially game changing ruling by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in regards to Maine's jurisdiction over Indian lands.

Since the historic 1980 Maine Indian Settlement Acts, the state has asserted broad jurisdiction over the tribes including environmental rules and the federal government has generally stood aside. But earlier this week the EPA ruled that Maine's proposed water quality standards violate the Settlement Acts by not ensuring that fish on the reservations are safe to eat in quantity.

The Penobscot Nation says the decision is "historic" as it suggests the federal government may take a more active role as the tribes' trustee. The Passamaquoddy did not respond by press time yesterday, but released a press release today expressing satisfaction with the ruling.

Last year I wrote a 31-part series in the Press Herald on the Passamaquoddy and their fraught relationship with Maine and their own leaders. It's also available as an ebook (free, even, for subscribers.)

[Update, 3/22/15: Maine will sue EPA over the ruling, which Gov. LePage has said is "outrageous."]

Maine Press Association Journalist of the Year

I received an entirely unexpected honor near the end of an award's ceremony last night: being named the Maine Press Association's 2014 Journalist of the Year. Many thanks to the MPA, which represents my native state's newspapers, and to my editors at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram who have been so supportive of my (often time-consuming, long-form) work since joining the paper in 2012.

I had come to the ceremony to receive the first prize for an investigative project for "Lobbyist in the Henhouse," the seven-month long investigation of what happened after Gov. Paul LePage appointed an industry lobbyist to head the Department of Environmental Protection. The paper also won several other first prizes, the best advertising representative, and the three most coveted awards the MPA gives out: best daily newspaper, best Weekend newspaper, and best website. A very good night for the paper.

Also, for those with an interest in "Unsettled", the 29-part series on the harrowing odyssey of Maine's Passamaquoddy people over the past fifty years, the ebook is now available. It's free for subscribers, and available for purchase from B&N, Amazon, and iTunes. Thanks to all who came to the launch reception last week at the Salt Institute.

Don Gellers, 60s-era legal champion of Passamaquoddy, has died at 78.

I'm sad to report that Rabbi Tuvia Ben-Shmuel-Yosef -- known to Mainers by his birth name, Don Gellers -- died Wednesday in New York City. He was 78.

He was a central figure in my recent 29-part Portland Press Herald series, "Unsettled", vigorously defending the Passamaquoddy in court at a time when nobody else would, calling national media attention to official handling of the brutal 1968 slaying of tribal member Peter Francis, and filing the first land claims case against Maine (via colonial power Massachusetts).

As the series reveals, he was for his troubles run out of the state and country by a state sponsored conspiracy orchestrated by the Attorney General's office.

I'll be writing a longer story on Ben-Shmuel-Yosef  for next week's Telegram and will say some words about him at the "Unsettled" ebook launch reception Oct. 16.

[Update, 1/10/20: Governor Janet Mills, a former Attorney General and career prosecutor, granted Gellers a full pardon and admonished the state's handling of the case.]

"Unsettled" e-book release party, Oct. 16, Portland, Maine

"Unsettled", the 29-part series on the epic story of Maine's Passamaquoddy people over the past half century, is now available as an e-book and the Portland Press Herald is throwing a reception.

If you live in the vicinity of Portland, Maine -- or have frequent flyer miles to burn -- consider coming to the Oct. 16 event at the Salt Institute. Photographer Gabe Souza and myself will be there to answer questions about the series, with Press Herald Executive Editor Cliff Schechtman moderating. It kicks off at 6:00 pm, but space is limited so do RSVP using this link.

Here's the invite:

The ebook, published by the Press Herald, will be available free to subscribers and from iTunes and Amazon for everyone else. [Update, 10/16/14: The ebook is out now; links to download or purhase here.]

Hope to see you there.

Controversial Passamaquoddy figure restored as chief at Indian Township

I have another significant development for readers of "Unsettled",  the 29-part series on Maine's Passamaquoddy people that ran in the Portland Press Herald earlier this summer.

Last week, the tribe held their general elections. As I reported in Wednesday's Press Herald, at Indian Township controversial ex-chief Billy Nicholas won the chief's race. His brother, Leslie, won the vice-chieftanship and a third brother, Indian Township police chief Alex Nicholas, won a seat on the tribal council. The Nicholas brothers will have significant influence over tribal affairs for years to come.

Meanwhile, at the tribe's other reservation at Pleasant Point, voters tossed out their incumbent chief and vice chief in favor of Fred Moore III and Vera Francis. The story has more details.

Rough roads ahead. We'll be following it.

Unsettled update: controversial ex-chief wins primary election

For those following "Unsettled", the 29-part series on Maine's Passamaquoddy people that ran earlier this summer, there's a new development.

As I reported in Tuesday's Portland Press Herald, the controversial ex-chief at Indian Township, Billy Nicholas, won an 11-way primary for chief by a large margin last week.... after the last minute striking of one of his main competitors -- Allen Sockabasin -- from the ballot.

The Passamaquoddy's other reservation at Pleasant Point held their primary Monday. Frederick Moore III will face incumbent chief Clayton Cleaves in the general election Sept.3; Vera Francis will face incumbent vice chief Ken Poynter.

Stay tuned next week for full results of the tribe's elections.

"Unsettled" Epilogue: A Family's inter-generational quest for justice

This week's Maine Sunday Telegram includes a front-page Epilogue to our recently completed 29-part series, "Unsettled."

The follow-up piece tells the story of the Peter Francis family's inter-generational quest for justice in the 1965 killing, for which nobody was ever found accountable. The state's handling of the case created statewide controversy -- and national media attention -- at the time, and has never been forgotten by the Passamaquoddy, as it distilled the institutionalized racism they'd long experienced in Maine.

For those of you in New Brunswick and Easternmost Maine, I'll be talking with CBC-New Brunswick's Jacques Poitras about the series on InfoMorning Frederiction tomorrow (Tuesday, August 5) at about 8:15 Atlantic (9:15 Eastern).

To read the full series, visit its landing page. And, yes, there will be an e-book and possibly a print one.

[Update, 1/10/20: Governor Janet Mills, a former Attorney General and career prosecutor, granted Don Gellers a full pardon and admonished the state's handling of the case.]

"Unsettled" Finale

"Unsettled", our epic 29 part series on Maine's Passamaquoddy people, concludes in this week's Maine Sunday Telegram. You can read the entire series at this landing page.

And, yes, before you ask, we are going to be issuing an e-book edition, and possibly a print edition as well. More on that later as details emerge.

The series has received an overwhelmingly positive reaction here in Maine. The Columbia Journalism Review has called it "a masterclass in serialization." It's been featured by the Poynter Institute, Indian Country Today, the Milwaukee Journal, Romeneso, and as a New York Times featured it in their "Our Picks" feature on their popular smartphone app, "New York Times Now."

Here in Maine, I've been interviewed about it by WCSH-6/WLBZ-2, WGAN (twice, including this latest conversation on Saturday), and WMPG. I'll be speaking to CBC New Brunswick later in the week.

We'll be publishing an Epilogue to the story next Sunday as well.

Thanks for reading, to my editors at the Press Herald for all their support, to the brilliant Brian Robitaille for the page designs, Peter Vachon for the web design, and staff photographer Gabe Souza for the fantastic work